I used to be someone who assumed people on the right were arguing in good faith. Over the past several years, and particularly with the election of Obama, I've come to the conclusion that most on the right are cynical bullies with two goals: the acquisition of power and utilization of said power for their own enrichment.
George Will was one of those conservatives I admired, even if I didn't agree with him often. As a history teacher I am easily seduced by connections of relatively obscure U.S. history events such as the Teapot Dome Scandal to modern politics. George Will is the king of such anecdotes and I admired him for it. One of my favorite activities for my AP US Government students is showing them ABC's "This Week" roundtable discussion every Monday. Students inevitably love Will's dry wit and knowledge of U.S. history and it's relevance to current events.
But as the right and the Republican Party has entered the "we are absolute nutters" status people like Will are showing their true selves and it isn't pretty. Over the past year or so:
- Will has attempted to use research by scientists to deny the existence of global warming even when those scientists claim this research shows the exact opposite.
- Bemoan the ubiquotousness of blue jeans as a sign of America's cultural decline. Is he trying to replace Martin Landau in the Grumpy Old Men franchise?
- And the coup de gras of Will's fall from grace in my eyes is the bigotry that surfaces in this post courtesy of Matthew Yglesias about Arizona's new immigration law.
Moneyquote from Will's arictle:
Arizonans should not be judged disdainfully and from a distance by people whose closest contacts with Hispanics are with fine men and women who trim their lawns and put plates in front of them at restaurants.
Is this a better description of the people who are critical of this law or of George Will?
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3 comments:
Right on! I think soon we'll only have David Brooks to add any legitimate balance to the debate. This blog rocks by the way; keep up the great work!
Charlie!
My first comment.
I read someone who was pondering what the hell happened to George Will. He said he went from being an erudite observer of politics to a modern incarnation of Robert Novak.
Perfect.
I think Will is in a panic over the state of the conservative movement, which has resulted in him supporting ideas with which he might have previously disagreed. Grasping at straws as they say. Perhaps he realizes he's the only "conservative" voice left who doesn't drop his "gs" or pepper every sentence with "like." Brooks is an exception, of course, but given his affiliation with the Newshour he is suspect.
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